In this episode I get the opportunity to thank a volunteer!
In my Ironman Waco 70.3 race recap, I told the story of how I met someone in the Ironman store the day before the race and during conversation he said that he would make plans to present me with my medal when I crossed the finish line. True to his word, he encouraged me during the last mile of the course and greeted me at the finish line to place my medal around my neck. Through the power of Social Media, I tracked him down and he agreed to be a guest on the show.
Nathan Jones shares how he came to be a volunteer during Ironman weekend in Waco, TX and we talk about some of the areas he was able to serve.
Nathan is on staff with Fellowship of Christian Athletes whose mission is to lead every coach and athlete to a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. FCA, as an organization, has a world-wide reach and they have the opportunity to work with everyone from the local “pee-wee” to the professional level. We discuss how important the role a coach can play in a young person’s life and Nathan shares how working with coaches at the Junior High, High School and Collegiate level is his “bread and butter.”
We talk about the role of the volunteer and the impact that is made by giving of your time. Nathan shares a biblical verse that he believes really captures the “heartbeat” of the volunteer. During the two day weekend, Nathan spent 20-24 hours working at different stages of the race. Beside working the finish line on Sunday, he shares that he was able to provide support on the swim and we discuss a few of our previous swim misadventures.
Nathan is currently on his own Ironman journey. He is currently training for Ironman 70.3 Texas in April 2022 and Ironman Maryland in September 2022. We talk about how his training is going so far and he even shares if he has plans to get the M-Dot tattoo.
And we of course talk about bikes. I even try, unsuccessfully, to get Nathan to agree he needs the custom painted Ventum bike that we both admired in the Ironman store.